The Iola register., 1887-01-14
ARO.St1Ahrs,~<a.



Some Of the Principal Tricks Practice4l b
Professional Rascals.
Card-sharping is the easiest thing
going. 1t only requires a good pres
ence. though even that can b dis
pensed with . quick eye, = certain
amount of GOODNESS and practice.
There are several ways. The principal
things are, no matter what the game
may be, to ready the pack. and to
avoid or neutralsss the cut. Take
ecarte. The object to be attained is to
get the eighth. ninth. tenth and elev-
enth cards from the top to be Of the
same suit. The '.readying'' always oc.
ours after the first hand and out Of the
eleven cards which lie with their faces
uppermost on the table, it is not diff
cult to spot four good cards and place
them on the top of the pack. In the
course of the shuttle seven more cards
are placed on the top of these.
The next thing is to avoid or
neutralize the cut, which is not
SO difficult rs may appear when
accompanied by pleasant ''patter." T"
which is necessary to all tricks. The
pack is now "readied," and when dealt
it will be found that the tenth, ninth
and eighth cards, which are in the
dealers hand, are of the same suit as
the eleventh card, which he turns up as
trun,ps.
The means of neutralizing the cut,
when it can not be avoided, are called
the bridge and .'pass." When the
pack is "readied,' and the sharp see:
he can not avoid the cut, he takes some
fifteen cards from the bottom of the
pack, which he holds in his hand. These
fifteen cards he bends slightly length.
ways, SO as to form slight curve and
throws them carelessly on the pack.
The odds are about one hundred to one
that his adversary will cut the fifteer
bent cards and leave the .'readied'
pack in its original position. The tricl
is sometimes performed backwards. a.
if the sharp were cutting himself, by
mistake, after Shu1Ilng.
The "pass" is not so easy, and is per
formed by sleight-of-hand. When the
cards are "readied," the pack is pre-
sented to be cut. When this is done
two portions are On the table, and it i:
for the sharp who is dealing to readjusr
them into one pack. This he does ir
the following way: He takes up the
"readied'' cards in his right hand arc
passes them to his left hand. He ther
takes up the remaining cards with hi:
right hand, apparently as if to plac'
them on top of the "readied" cards
Instead of doing so, however, he, by
sleight-cf-hand which is performed with
the tip of the little finger of his lefl
hand, and quick movement of tht
other fingers. which could not be ex
planned in print. manages to reverse
the two portions. thus leaving the
''readied'' cards in their original posi-
tion on the top, as they were before
the pack was cut.
Another way of sharpening is yer,
popular in baccarat, and is called tn.
"slip'' or ''second pulling" This il
performed with marked cards, or wha
ave called ''rcaders." The most i'm
portant cards the eights
mines, tens and court cards-are mark
ed in way that no one but the peo
pie ''in the know could possibly dis
cover. A great deal of skill is neces
sary in dealing, so that the gree car
deal himself, if required. the "seeont
pullers" or marked cards from ever
the second, third or fourth carls down
while all the time appearing to helI
himself honestly from the top. These
marked cards or '.readers" are mad,
and sold largely in America by circu
lar, and a single pack costs as much a.
a ''fiver." Recently a wcll-known clut
man received circular from one 0:
these scoundrelly firms, in which they
offered him a large commission on al
orders which he obtained.
One of the best recognized. but mos
risky modes of sharping at cards. is
what is called "thc drunken mug
The best way of explaining it will be
to give an example which occurred
few years ago at well-known water
ing-place. The mug was induced te
play in his own rooms with three
sharps, who had singled him out fol
slaughter. The game was not for ready
money, and the ''mug" was made
drunk by dropping salt in his liquor
The next morning one of the sharper.
called on him and proffered him $6O
which he profcsscd to have lost over
night to the mug" The ''mug." moi
suspecting or remembering any thing,
took the money, and thought the SHARP
a very decent fellow. Not very Ions
after, however. the two other sharps
called upon him and presented winning
accounts for $500. The "mug' saw
the game Immediately, and was on the
point of refusing to pay, when he re-
memhcred that he had incautiously ac.
cepted the other mans $50, and had
put himself out of court. The sharps
knew with whom they were dealing.
and had risked the $50 to catch the
$500. The mug" to avoid further
trouble, wrote check for $500, but
found out afterward that the men were
well known as flash sharpers.-IoUx
Topics.